Beyond Blood
by Vanadium Oxide
Summary: On the northern outlands of Mauritania, an indignant prince is tasked to guard the gardens of dusk. A horizon away, a naive naiad sits from her eternal abode, yearning to see the outside world. [Perzoe in the Bronze Age] [Full Desc. Inside]


**Disclaimer:** VCRx does not own anything in the PJO universe. Rights belong to Rick Riordan, and Disney Hyperion. This disclaimer will apply to all chapters of the story. Thanks!

 **Description:** On the northern outlands of Mauritania, an indignant prince is tasked to guard the gardens of dusk. A horizon away, a naive naiad sits from her eternal abode, yearning to see the outside world. When a quest from Greece threatens the balance of the Ten Houses, the pair must navigate the gods, political backhanding, and the lies of one another, if they wish to save everything they hope the world could be. [PERZOE][HEROIC TIMES][POWER REVERSAL] [M-ROMANCE]

 **Dedication:** Thank you to PraetorFable and Curious Beats for helping with drafting and editing this story. You guys rock!

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 **~ Beyond Blood ~**

 **Prologue: An Epilogue**

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On the eve of the fifth age, the envied heavens had long since been scorched and drenched in the ichor of war and treachery. As wallowing dark shrouds crept up from the darkened, ruined vales, the woods of the lowlands swayed with unease. The skies above shone with shingles of flaking gold while wretched winds etched their torrent across the downtrodden badlands of Malis with their presumptuous animosity. These gold shingles, like early tidings of a predestined fate, scattered themselves upon the earth, into the stems of dead grain, and wedging themselves between the edges of wailing carobs.

Twinkle. Twinkle. Little Stars.

The Earth held a mirror to the divines above and afar.

The Titan-God War had bought waste and ruin upon the world. As divinities waged war for supremacy, turning the very corners of nature and earth into their battlefields and pawn pieces, they fought like grappling, desperate regimes itching for an edge. For a hundred seasons, the earth rocked in sorrow as her children strangled one another for mere power.

They were no more than petty squabbles, to the observers that were larger than life. Yet, thpose whose hands became golden with death, it was anything but.

A lone naiad shivered as a drifting wind whisked beneath her, burrowing through the bare underlings beneath the loose threadbare chiton. She clung to a carob branch, as it caressed her flaking skin with humor.

Carefully surveying the ground before her - a steep slope that declined quickly into a trail of pebbles which formed the base of a dale - the naiad snapped through the maze of hazel-white stalks before performing a serenade, dancing and skipping to her former anchor of a creek bed. The brush crunched under the weight of her movements, chiming an unknown tune that matched the naiad's quiet dance. The winds and howls of afar fell vacant, unsure to interrupt the awkward sequence of shuffles.

Only seconds passed, yet an entire lifetime of sorrow and been conveyed through the spirit's movements. It stopped abruptly as it had begun, however, as her trembling bruised toes met rounded, baked stones.

The naiad wandered among the rocks, following the lost stream that ached within her. Her heart filled with homesickness despite everything left she'd ever known laying right in front of her. Wasted flower beds sat still, wilting to the endless taunts of the sun. The water springs of Othrys which supplied her spirit for decades had long since dried up, driving away the wild creatures that had once found her banks a refuge. Shrivel up, like those who were tied to the land, or vacate for greener pastures, she supposed.

These lands were lost to life – cursed with drought.

The troubles started three years ago, when the Anemoi, lords of storm and wind, aligned with Olympus and proclaimed Zeus at their king. It was a pivotal entrance into the otherwise stagnant war, an utter shock to Kronos who had assumed the Anemoi were too chaotic and unorganized to mobilize. The Anemoi hadn't been seen under a united banner since the reign of Ouranos, and the apparent Olympian King's ability to wage storm himself must've made him into a new symbol of Sky. Their presence in the Olympian war effort showed immediately, as rains were diverted, and winds rid the land of moisture. Titan supply lines became torched as grains welt despite all of Kronos' influence. Allied nature spirits - like herself - soon succumbed to famine, and the morale of everyone else soon followed.

Days, weeks, and months turned to dry seasons that became indistinguishable cycles of baking-soot-filled-skies. Those who dared to believe simple droughts wouldn't slow them down fell to early graves. Spirits, monsters, and mortals alike fell like drones. Meanwhile, the front lines continued their never-ending retreat, with only struggling parcels of the former Army of Gold remaining. Once, they were considered the ultimate, undefeatable fighting force. Now, no longer.

The fighting was still beyond the horizon, yet the echoes of war could still be heard anyway. Cries of anger, sorrow, defeat, and triumphant, veiled only by a sliver of reality and Mother Earth.

"Lady Hesperis!" A voice called out from the upper woodlands that she had ventured from. The voice belonged to Aegle, her most loyal handmaiden, who was huffing with tried effort. "Lady Hesperis?! Lady Hes-"

"I am here, Aegle," Hesperis conceded, more to her own shadow than to her life-long friend. "Please, leave me be. I am just in dire need of a few moments of solitude."

"Oh thank the lords, I found you!" Aegle cried in relief, before appearing from behind the trees. "I just knew you would be here! Please, my lady, I must return you to the palace. It is dangerous for you to be out here."

"Have I not told you to cease with this 'my lady' nonsense, before?" Hesperis tersely cursed, her breath soaking in the sooty air. "I detest informalities. I am sure you know this."

"You have a terrible choice in men, _my lady_ , if pleasantries do not suit you," Aegle smirked down from above the dale. "Now, _please_ come up here. We must return soon. Dusk is to befall soon and your guard will get trouble if you are found to have left unaccompanied."

"Unaccompanied, I am not," Hesperis snorted, ignoring the comment about her husband. Aegle had disapproved of him since day one, and still only reluctantly put up with him for her sake. And that had been after the marriage. "I am with you now, as well as my own thoughts."

"Your thoughts and I would not be useful if you were attacked, here in the woods, my lady."

"Attacked? Is it dangerous for us to be out in the wilderness? Are we not spirits of the Earth?" During her miniature rant, she'd opted to continue following the ghostly trail of rocks downstream, eyeing for a favorite landmark she'd hadn't visited for some time.

"Being one with the Earth only does so much," Aegle replied weakly, following her from above. "Our lands have been cursed for many seasons. It is best not to tempt fate by being out after Helios is sent to reinforce Iapetus. And Selene would not be here to keep eye on our lands tonight."

Hesperis' pace quickened, as she turned a familiar bend, before her favorite ridgeline lay before her.

"I am counting on Selene to be off-duty," Hesperis elaborated to her friend, who barely kept pace despite the fact it was she who was carrying extra weight. "The view is much more beautiful bathed in darkness. Remember the nights of our childhood, when we would lay on the banks of Breakstone Ridge and spend nights gazing at the skies?"

"Lady Hesperis," Aegle warned, "We can reminisce about the good old days at the palace. Please, if not for your or my sake, then for your children, I really do believe we must venture back. Now."

"The skies were very different back then, do you remember? They did not sparkle with the dust of battle scars, as they do now. The war has brought much pain and despair onto our world, but the heavens shine ever more beautiful than ever, do they not?"

"I remember you being too pragmatic for such talk."

Hesperis sat on a nice boulder on the ridge. From here, the slopes dropped with greater fleetness, shining with barren rock, less suitable for tall beech and aspens which destroy scenic views.

The skies were becoming red as the sun met where battles were raged, as if soaked in the blood of men.

"I believe the war is to end soon," Hesperis said, as Aegle caught up to her. She put a hand above her swollen mid-region, feeling the warmth within her. "The window of time is closing. This age is strung on its last string."

Aegle stood hesitantly behind Hesperis, unsure if she should respond. Since the change in tide of the war effort, a dozen seasons ago, chatter of the war effort had become near taboo among the nobility in the palace.

Everyone at the palace understood, full and well, how _not_ well the war was going. As the fronts against Olympus loomed ever closer to the Golden City and the Black Throne, greater anxiety grew amongst the populace. It was a matter of time before the fragile bubble of placidity burst.

"The Fates long ordained the fall of Othrys long before you or I basked in our first ray of sun," Hesperis continued, barely a whisper. "I am unsure when exactly, but I feel I have come to terms with destiny."

Hesperis stared longingly at the horizon with aching obsidian eyes, at the bands mixing yellows and oranges which lit up the skies and beyond. She caressed her abdomen, while the wind whistled through her here frail whitening hair which had lost nearly all its color last winter.

She held the tears that were begging to be unleashed. She did not mind what would become of her after the war. As she had said to Aegle, she had already accepted her fate. If the Olympians were anything like the Titans they fought, the only mercy she would expect was a swift execution. Nothing more; nothing less. But what would become of her children?

She could feel them now, her girls. She couldn't confirm it yet, but call it mother's intuition, she simply _knew_ they were girls. All of them. She could feel them pushing within her womb, and any day now, they would make their way into the world. She was sure they would not come out too late.

But would the world they enter be the same she'd lived her whole life knowing?

Hesperis did not know much about the Olympians. She knew little more about them then hear-say that was most likely little more than half-truth rumor. Her most reliable source came from when her husband would return from the front-lines. That they were fierce, and Hestia, the oldest, was perhaps the fiercest of all.

Her husband had returned once from battle, injured with burnings so severe, he had to be away from the front lines for a week. Even Helios couldn't have pulled such a feat.

But their power said little about their motivations or ideals. Were the Olympians such an evil threat as some of the titans spoke of them? She was not sure. Her husband was a warrior, and only begrudgingly brought compliments about the strength of the enemy. He did not care about ideas or way of rule. Could the Olympians end up being better rulers than the titans?

Hesperis could only hope so.

Hope that her girls would be able to live their own lives, and that the blood in their veins did not dictate their fate.

She wanted to pray that the gods would leave room for mercy, but then praying seemed a bit of a reach.

Who would be the subject she'd pray to? The titans? The gods? The earth? Someone else?

"Is this why you wandered out here, my lady? To discuss war and endings?"

"Not quite," Hesperis faltered. "War and endings are simply dismal, but necessary. But I wanted to ensure what comes next."

"Comes next?"

"After every war, there is always moment of peace. After every ending, there comes a new beginning."

Aegle held off the urge to burst out in laughter. "Since when did you become a proclaimed philosopher?"

Hesperis chuckled. "Motherhood... It changed everything. It _changes_ everything. I feel myself... no longer constrained to one point. I am anchored. Yet, yet I feel free as ever. The next chapter… It must be written. We… We will not be.. Be part of… Part of..."

Hesperis head nodded off, and she lost balance, drooping forward, near launching herself over the cliff-face.

"Hesperis, dear lords!" Aegle ran forward, barely catching a pale Hesperis who was sweating profusely despite the chilly air, before hastily pulling her away from the cliff.

Hesperis only smiled, eyes fluttering. "Our streams have been dry for so long. I tire."

"I'm the tired one, lords-damnit! You're the one who pulled me out here!"

"They're coming Aegle… I fe - feel them dig - da -digging for dear life. My water broke on the walk from the palace. It's… it's time."

"What?! You mean now? We have to get you back -"

"Sh- shh. They must be born here. It must be here… It's so beautiful."

"Then I'll get help!" Aegle shrieked with panic, getting up to get help, but Hesperis latched desperately onto her dress.

"No! Stay here, here wa - with me. They won't make it in time. I - oh!"

She fell.

"Hesperis!"

"They're - lords, please, Aegle!"

Aegle swore. She proceeded to swear professly at her friend for dragging her out here, and no doubt tricking her into that plot for a quiet death. She tore off a large part of her own dress, and grabbed a few large sticks and leaves nearby before setting herself below Hesperis.

Hesperis latched on again, harder this time, probably from pain. Ignoring Hesperis' moans, Aegle set the fabric and leaves under Hesperis' entrance, as blood and other liquids began profusely leaking out. The bulge in Hesperis began moving and Hesperis cried out.

"Hurts…"

"Think of other things. Anything else," Aegle said hurriedly, her mind more focused on mentally preparing herself for aiding in childbirth. She'd been taught it by one of the older caretakers, but she'd never been tried. She never was expected to be tried. She didn't sign up for this! "Why did you choose this spot?"

"The forests below. The tr - treeline and … the sky. The clouds of Astros which used to shine purples and pinks… Now we have sparkling stars. Millions of dusty shrines. I wanted that to be the first things they see?" Hesperis whispered, sounding unsure.

"Stars?"

Hesperis laughed desperately. "The shining gold shingles that blink in the sky," she clarified. "They needed a name. I decided to name them."

"Stars," Hesperis mouthed, feeling the word in her mouth. She repeated once, twice, and possibly another dozen times. "It's fitting."

"You think so?"

"You think I would lie to you?"

"Of course!" she gasped.

Aegle forced herself to laugh.

"Name… Name the first Aegle."

"What?!"

"Just for that lie, name my first, Aegle." Hesperis wheezed and coughed dizzingy. "You've always been here for me… Lords, stars. They are so beautiful. Stars...

"Yes. They're shining quite bright, tonight, aren't they?"

"I see the stars," Hesperis said, despite her closed eyes.

"Yes, my lady. I see them too. You chose a wonderful spot. I see the stars, my lady," Aegle comforted.

"They won't..." Hesperis began, "They won't know a world without -"

And then, a new world began.

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 **I've been drafting and revising this idea for quite some time. Thank you to Curious Beats for the input on my main characters and PraetorFable for plot direction and betaing!**

 **This is going to be a Perzoe fic set back in the Bronze Age. That's the same era with Hercules and shit. I'm planning on using a lot of Greek Myth that is usually never covered in other fics so I hope it'll be a fresh of new air for folks. It might look cliché at first, but I promise it won't be.**

 **Eventual Sauce...?**

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 **Betaed by PraetorFable**

 **[Last Edited: 11/20/2019]**


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